Chennai, May 6: Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay is unlikely to take oath tomorrow as Chief Minister as the actor-turned politician firms up support to cross the majority mark in the Tamil Nadu assembly, sources said on Wednesday.
Sources said TVK "does not have official figures as of now" and the Governor is apparently not convinced about the numbers so far.
TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member assembly and is ten short of the majority mark. With Vijay also to step down from one of the two seats he won in the assembly polls, the effective strength of TVK in the assembly will become 107.
TVK, which emerged as the single-largest party in Tamil Nadu in a spectacular assembly polls debut, has secured support of five Congress MLAs.
Congress had fought the election as part of the DMK-led alliance but has decided to extend support to TVK.
Vijay, on Wednesday, met Tamil Nadu Governor Rajendra Arlekar at the Lok Bhavan as part of government formation efforts.
Vijay himself won from both the constituencies, Tiruchirapalli East and Perambur and proved that his charisma is not limited to cinema.
Earlier today, the Tamil Nadu Governor told ANI that he will meet TVK chief Vijay.
Speaking to ANI, the Governor said that he has received a formal letter from TVK staking claim to form the government and has scheduled a meeting with the party chief later in the day.
"I have received a letter from TVK. They will meet me in the evening. They have stated that they have the majority and they should be called for the formation of the government. A new govt will come now," he said.
Earlier in the day, Tamil Nadu Congress President K Selvaperunthagai and the party's state incharge Girish Chodankar met Vijay at the TVK Headquarters in Chennai, confirming thier support to the debutant party in forming the next government in the state.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Selvaperunthagai said, "We have given our letter of support (to TVK). This is the party high command decision. I don't know when the oath ceremony is. He (TVK chief Vijay) will meet the Governor."
With Congress securing five seats and TVK winning 108 seats, the alliance tally stands at 113 seats, which is still five seats short of the 118 majority mark in the Assembly.
DMK leader Saravanan Annadurai criticised the Congress for shifting its support, calling the move "myopic" and accusing the party of betraying its INDIA alliance partners."I think this is a very short-sighted, myopic stand taken by the Congress, which they will regret. The 2029 big elections are coming, where we are very confident that we will be able to remove the BJP. But now, because of this decision by the Congress, it has made them a very unstable partner. The perception that is out in the entire country is that Congress cannot be trusted," he said.(
In a bid to seek more support, TVK has also apparently approached AIADMK General Secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS).
TVK stunned the 'Dravidian' parties in the state in the results announced on Monday, bringing to an end the DMK-AIADMK three- decade-old 'duopoly'. (ANI)
